Shop mannequins clad in lingerie could encourage men to perpetrate sexual violence against women, according to a member of Mumbai’s municipal corporation whose proposal to ban them in the city has received initial approval.

Ritu Tawade, the legislator from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said the scantily-clad female figures affect male mindsets, and might be a cause of rapes in the city.

“These [mannequins] directly or indirectly affect rape cases,” Ms. Tawade told India Real Time, adding that shopkeepers shouldn’t be allowed to use the undressed figure of a woman to sell a product.

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“This is not what Indian culture teaches us,” said Ms. Tawade.

She added that the Indian Penal Code prohibits the “indecent representation of women through advertisements or in publications, writings, paintings, figures or in any other manner.”

The civic body has accepted the proposal but a policy to ban the mannequins has yet to be formulated and requires approval from the municipal commissioner.

This is just one of the novel suggestions made to reduce crime against women after the fatal gang rape of a young woman on a moving bus in Delhi in December, which brought the issue of women’s safety in India to the world’s attention.

We’ve gathered nine other intriguing suggestions from Indian politicians and religious leaders, made since the December attack, on what should be done to reduce sex crimes against women in India.

No skirts: A few days after the rape in Delhi, a politician in Rajasthan wrote a letter to the chief secretary of the state asking the government to revise the school uniform policy in his district to replace skirts with pants or salwars (traditional Indian leggings). The reason? To prevent sexual harassment.

“Boys click photos of girls while they wait for the school bus and circulate them. This increases social crime,” Banwari Lal Singhal, who made the request, told India Real Time at that time.

The more conservative uniform would prevent such incidents and also protect the girls from the extreme weather in Rajasthan, he added at the time.

Call the attacker “brother”: At a religious meeting in Delhi on Dec. 29,less than two weeks after the Delhi gang rape,Asaram Bapu, a Hindu religious leader said remembering God, and pleading with her attackers could have saved the victim from the assault.

If she had said the Saraswati Mantra or Guru Diksha, religious mantras, before watching the movie with her male companion, she wouldn’t have entered the bus, Mr. Bapu said.

“If she did enter the bus, there were six drunk men…she should have prayed to God. She should have held the hand of one and told him, ‘I consider you a brother,’” Mr. Bapu told those at the meeting.

“She should have told two [of the men] ‘I am helpless, you are my brother by dharam,’ (dharam means religion).

“If she would have [said] God’s name and held [her attacker’s] hands and feet, it wouldn’t have been so bad,” he added.

Neelam Dubey, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bapu, confirmed the statement was made by Mr. Bapu. She added Mr. Bapu was telling his followers how to save themselves from such a situation.

Bring back traditional Indian values: A leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a right-wing conservative organization, claimed in January that cases of sexual violence seldom occur in rural parts of India. He blamed the influence of western thought and ideology for gang rapes in the country. For him the simple solution is to revisit attitudes towards women “in the context of ancient Indian values.”

No dating, no Bollywood: A leader from the Samajwadi Party in Mumbai, Abu Azmi, said in January that dating before marriage leads to sexual harassment.

“Of late, it’s considered fashionable to roam around with a boyfriend,” Mr. Azmi said at a press conference in Mumbai. In a bid to appeal to men, these women attract attention by sporting “skimpy” outfits, and promoting what he called “nudity” in cities.

“What women do in the name of girlfriend-boyfriend is wrong. They must be punished,” he added. Mr. Azmi explained he feels this encourages men to make lewd remarks.

Mr. Azmi also said Bollywood movies with storylines depicting promiscuity encourage men to commit sex crimes.

A protective wrist-watch: In January, Kapil Sibal, India’s information technology minister, revealed that his ministry was working on a wrist-borne gadget that would send a message to the nearest police station and to pre-selected family members at the press of a button in case of an attack. A Global Positioning System in the watch would inform authorities of the wearer’s location.

But activists weren’t convinced that the watch would be of much help. They questioned whether the same cops who are reluctant to register rape and other sexual assault cases would rush to help everyone who sends an SMS.

Tackle Talent Shows: Sumitra Mahajan, a politician from the BJP criticized reality television during a debate on a law on sexual harassment in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament.

“I have many times seen shows, which are supposed to be for showing talent, and then in the shows which are produced, 10, 12, and 14-year-old girls and boys are dancing together…dancing together to all kinds of love songs,” she said.

Boys and girls should study separately: For Mulayam Singh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party that heads the Uttar Pradesh government, co-education is a root-cause of sexual harassment. “Today, boys and girls study together. We have to stop that,” said Mr. Singh during the debate on the law on sexual harassment.

Cover up erotic Indian sculptures: Lalu Prasad Yadav, head of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, wanted the government to cover up UNESCO world heritage sites in the central Indian town of Khajuraho and Konark, in the eastern state of Orissa.

“Cover up the depictions of naked people in Khajuraho and Konarak,” said Mr. Yadav during the parliamentary debate on the law on sexual harassment, arguing these have “a bad impact on people.”

Ban Pornography: In April, Kamlesh VaswanI, a lawyer from the central Indian city of Indore, filed a Public Interest Litigation to the Supreme Court alleging that internet pornography puts society in danger. The petition states that “most of the offences committed against women/girls/children are fuelled by pornography.”

The petition also mentions that the severity and gravity of porn images is increasing. “Offenders’ minds are mostly fuelled by pornography as the sexual offender or rapist achieve his gratification not from sexual release alone but also from the thrill of domination, control and power,” it adds.

Mr. Vaswani asked the Supreme Court to make watching pornography illegal. According to a report, the Supreme Court of India asked India’s telecom ministry to look into the issue.

About India Real Time

India Real Time offers analysis and insights into the broad range of developments in business, markets, the economy, politics, culture, sports, and entertainment that take place every single day in the world’s largest democracy. Regular posts from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires reporters around the country provide a unique take on the main stories in the news, shed light on what else mattered and why, and give global readers a snapshot of what Indians have been talking about all week. You can contact the editors at indiarealtime(at)wsj(dot)com.